How to Host a Customer Service Intervention, and Why It Can Mean the Different to the Service Experience

If you know a business that is losing time, money, and customers to mismanagement of customer service, maybe it’s time to host an intervention.

Entrepreneurs tend to run in packs, which means that you probably have multiple business owners among your friends and colleagues.

This can be great for solidarity and having people around that understand what you’re going through, but at the same time, watching people make the same mistakes you used to (before you wised up!) can also be really frustrating.

If you’ve got a friend losing time, sleep, and business to mismanagement of customer service, maybe it’s time to host an intervention – here’s a handy how-to for you to follow.

Step One: Notice the signs

You’re probably all too familiar with these, having been a burned out and frustrated business owner at one point or another in your career. But, as a refresher course, take note if you see your friends exhibiting signs and symptoms like:

• under-eye circles (they’re getting darker by the minute)
• being irrationally cranky with employees and customers (and probably you, too)
• constant complaints of “not enough time in the day” (they’ve turned down your happy hour invitations two months in a row)

Step Two: Frame it as a benefit for them

Nobody wants to hear “Hey, so I’ve noticed you’re too busy and your customer service kinda sucks…” Or at least, not anyone we know. To make sure your intervention is met with maximum receptiveness, talk about how much better things can be.  For example, “I used to not have any time for happy hour, either – have you thought about what you can take off your plate?”

Step Three: Give them the solution(s)

Pointing out a problem without discussing a solution is just going to leave your friend feeling frustrated, criticized, and defensive. Before you even bring up the problem, make sure you’ve got a list of suggestions and resources that can give them the help they so desperately need.

The absolute fastest way to de-stress and start improving customer experience as a business owner is to start outsourcing and delegating. Here’s some tools they can use:

• For the business owner who wants to dip their toe into delegating both personal and business related tasks, there’s FancyHands – a great way to have training wheels for your outsourcing skills, so to speak.
• For the person who needs something a little more full-service than FancyHands, that can handle a variety of assistant tasks, there’s Zirtual.
• And for the business owner who wants an all-encompassing solution for their customer service, who needs 24/7 availability, receptionist services, order processing, or all of the above, there’s the Hastings Humans.

Looking for information that you can give your friend on how to actually start outsourcing and delegating? Here you go:

• 132 Things Small Business Owners Can Delegate
• How to Delegate More Effectively In Your Business
• 5 Ways to Stop Being a Control Freak
• Delegation Don’ts

One customer service intervention done. One more business owner saved. Now it’s time to start thinking of your next target – business owners everywhere need your help!